5,000 bags of paddy procured from Bihar found at rice mills in Punjab

The Punjab Food and Civil Supplies department Tuesday said it has found 5,000 bags of paddy procured at cheaper rates from Bihar, in a raid conducted at a rice mill in Khanna.

The chief vigilance officer of the department Rakesh Kumar Singla said two trucks, carrying 4,100 bags of paddy from Bihar, were found and the contents of the third truck were offloaded in the mill premises.

Following an enquiry, the truck drivers gave the statement that they had brought paddy from Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

Prima facie this appears to be an attempt to sell paddy purchased at cheaper rates from other statesin Punjab mandis, said Singla in an official release.

He said the modus operandi for the same is to arrange bogus auction of such paddy which ispurchased from other states at about Rs 800 to 900 and sell in Punjab at MSP of Rs 1,770 a quintal and earn the direct profit from the transaction as well as commission on selling it in grain markets.

After milling, the rice obtained is mixed into the rice to be handed over to FCI. "Such tricks are apparently being played by commission agents who are engaged in milling as well, he said.

Investigation is on and action will be taken as per law. Market committee Khanna has been intimated for action and physical verification of the stock of the mill as well as recording of statements of farmers for verification of purchase recordsis underway, he said.

Within a month, the Punjab Food and civil supplies department through a series of raids unearthed nearly 2.5 lakh bags of paddy and two lakh bags of previous years rice for sale in Punjab.